Thoracic Aortic Disease Month September 2023 - Remembering Families

Aortic disease may be summed up in two words: "it hurts".

In words from the above, performed by Nazareth: it hurts, it scars, it wounds, it marks... 

Aortic disease also lies and deceives - it hides on the inside, it deceives, and then it "burns you when it's hot".

Aortic disease hurts whole families. It hides in various members of a family, some with bicuspid aortic valves, others in that same family with all three leaflets!

It is extremely painful to those who are alive when they begin to realize the potential hidden toll aortic disease may have taken on loved ones over multiple generations.

Bicuspid Aortic Valve and A Grandmother's Heart 

"We Thought That My Family Died of Heart Disease"

Especially remembering,

on this last day of September Aortic Disease Awareness 2023,

all the families hurt by thoracic aortic disease.

Thoracic Aortic Disease Awareness September 2023 - A Time to Remember

"Try to remember when life was so tender

That no one wept except the willow"

"Deep in December our hearts should remember

And follow, follow, follow" 

How long is 22 years?

I do remember a time of innocence in terms of aortic disease in the chest. It is 22 years now since a large aortic aneurysm was discovered around and above the mechanical aortic valve in my husband's heart. It changed our world. It became clear after his successful surgery that others needed to be warned, to receive help. How long has time been since then? Very long. And very short. Time is like that, its length defined by what happens in the moments of our lives.

Remembering our roots at the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation, this year we mark the passage of time since becoming conscious of the tremendous implications of this disease and the need for awareness and advocacy. Those issues and needs, along with unanswered questions, persist today despite progress made.

At the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation it is a privilege to once again focus on the aorta with September Awareness 2023. It is indeed gratifying to see many global efforts to raise awareness, support individuals and families, and continue progress through research and advancements in surgery.

This September we remember...

• We remember those who died.
• We remember those who survive with injuries.
• We remember all those with thoracic aortic disease, too often undiagnosed.
• We remember the great pioneering medical knowledge and surgical progress that saves lives through out the world today.

At the Bicuspid Aortic Foundation we are
Remembering this September;
And along with our memories,
Creating a Climate of Hope,
~Arlys Velebir
                                          President, Bicuspid Aortic Foundation